Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird has been under a bit of scrutiny due to the manner in which Pacers head coach Frank Vogel was relieved of his duties this week, mainly because Vogel’s track record wasn’t calling for his dismissal.
The Pacers have reportedly been linked to Jeff Hornacek, Brian Shaw, Nate McMillan, and Mark Jackson as candidates to be their next head coach.
Kevin McHale is a coach on the market since being fired by the Houston Rockets 11 games into this season. McHale was gaining traction with the Sacramento Kings, but he pulled his name from consideration with speculation that he might be headed to Indiana. Bird offers his reasoning as to why McHale will not be considered for the job, via Associated Press:
“I would not do that to Kevin, have him work for me. I respect him too much,” Bird said. “I would love for him to be the coach but it ain’t going to happen because I respect him too much.”
Of course, Bird and McHale are former teammates on the storied Boston Celtics of the 1980’s. Bird’s explanation comes off a bit odd, as you’d assume that he wants to have respect for the person hired as head coach. He admits that he “would love” for McHale to have the job because they clearly have a friendship, which is probably also what makes Bird hesitate.
